Modelo de negocio para el fortalecimiento del turismo comunitario en la Cooperativa de Desarrollo Comunitario Jima Ltda.

Abstract

Currently, the COVID-19 pandemic situation has affected the economic situation of various sectors in the world, among them, the tourism sector, facing unprecedented challenges to recover the livelihoods of millions of people who depend on it, in this context, Ecotourism is an alternative to reactivate the sector, as it offers activities that take place in large spaces, ventilated, safe, small groups, generating responsible and safe spaces for both host communities and tourists.

From this perspective, the Cooperativa de Desarrollo Comunitario Jima Ltda. located in the canton of Sígsig, province of Azuay, is convinced that cooperative work is a strategy to strengthen, among other issues, Ecotourism, which is why it has been developing, since months ago, the idea of implementing an Ecotourism Center, whose purpose, on the one hand, The purpose, on the one hand, is to contribute to organizational sustainability in the face of new technological, communicational, economic and social challenges and, at the same time, to generate and maintain sources of employment that contribute to local development and, on the other hand, to promote the preservation of biodiversity and environmental awareness as a source of life.

Within this framework, in order to define competitive strategies, resources, competencies and the economic performance of the Ecotourism Center, the business model was built in a participatory manner using the CANVAS methodology, which made it possible to define the products or services to be offered and the means to reach potential clients, in order to ensure the viability of the business. A mixed methodology (qualitative and quantitative) was used from a participatory approach. The results show that the "Thajsi" Ecotourism Center is a proposal that presents operational, economic, financial, technical and legal feasibility, making it an attractive proposal for the current and future tourism market.